man....reading through the comments it sounds like this went for " $530 and free shipping to the US (or $40~ to Europe) is a gigantic difference." last time around..... why is it almost $100 more expensive this time around?

that seems like quite a bit of money left on the table for those of us who are here looking for the best bang for our buck, that said it is still quite a bit cheaper than the $750 price this once commanded back in 2013....

This is the upgraded version. From the description, "Note: This drop is for the upgraded silver version of the La Figaro 339, which has an improved PCB with noninductive resistors that allow the unit to sound clearer and more pure."

This is the same price as I paid for the upgraded version in the last drop, you simply no longer have the option for the older $530 version.